Protests planned at Mass. safety board hearing on Pilgrim

Opponents of the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Plant plan to protest before an Atomic Safety and Licensing Board hearing in Boston.

The hearing Thursday was requested by the anti-Pilgrim group, Pilgrim Watch, whose members will be among the protesters.

They say the Nuclear Regulatory Commission hasn’t done enough to fix vulnerabilities at the nation’s nuclear power plants, which they say were exposed after last year’s nuclear plant accident in Japan.

A NRC spokesman says the three-member safety board isn’t expected to weigh the merits of Pilgrim Watch’s arguments. Rather, he says, the board will be considering whether a broader evidentiary hearing into Pilgrim Watch’s concerns is warranted.

Thursday’s hearing has no bearing on last month’s relicensing of Pilgrim, which allows it to operate 20 more years.